A one hour broadcast, "The Drop-Ins" served as the fourth season opener, and already warning signs are in place. One would think that with previous hit shows THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIE'S FATHER and CHICO AND THE MAN now defunct that producer James Komack would do everything in his power to ensure that WELCOME BACK, KOTTER would remain on the air for as long as possible, and you would be wrong. A massive power struggle ensued between Komack and star Gabriel Kaplan, the result being that everyone lost, the show dragging its feet through an often dismal final year, Kaplan present in just seven more episodes after this two parter, and suddenly hot superstar John Travolta in only eight more. Kaplan himself remarked on how successful the show continued to be in prime time reruns, until the fourth season began, when everything fell apart in acrimonious defeat. Things start off well, with the retirement of Principal John Lazarus, the appointment of Michael Woodman as the new Buchanan High principal, and Kotter now vice principal. This gives the Sweathogs new ideas about old mischief, assuming that with Kotter they'll be able to get away with anything. Gabe himself wrestles with the notion that their old friend is now their new enemy. Carvelli (Charles Fleischer) and Murray (Bob Harcum) are now permanent transfers, and when they get tied up by the Sweathogs Gabe is forced to give them detention, preventing them from dropping out by offering them jobs working in the school store. When Barbarino waltzes in wearing new threads and boasting about his new hospital job, the others are anxious to follow suit rather than give in to Kotter's demands. The director of every fourth season episode was Norman Abbott, nephew of Bud.
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